The past decade has marked a period of democratic decline at home and abroad. Global watchdogs are sounding the alarm about the rise of autocrats and the sobering increase of misinformation, partisan rancor, and even political violence in the United States.

The erosion of democratic institutions and undermining of democratic norms has alarmed funders across philanthropy in the United States, who understand that this instability threatens our longstanding investments in issues from civil rights to environmental justice and beyond. Many have mobilized to shore up the cracks in our democratic foundation by supporting civic education, nonprofit news sources, and initiatives that increase voter access and electoral transparency.

These efforts are immensely worthy but incomplete without focusing on another cornerstone of American democracy: labor. By funding worker institutions that improve wages and working conditions, strengthening collective power, and expanding models of democratic engagement, philanthropy can strengthen our country from the ground up.

In a nation where rising inequality has fractured Americans into factions, raising the stakes of partisan battles, organized labor has the power to address some of our most pressing and polarizing problems. Worker institutions model the power of democracy at every level and act as a powerful vehicle for mass civic engagement.

As the director of the Ford Foundation’s Future of Work(ers) program, I have seen firsthand how our work to strengthen democratic values and reduce economic inequality is deeply inextricable and mutually reinforcing. And I have witnessed the outsized impact this connection has on marginalized workers—particularly low-income workers, workers of color, LGBTQ+ workers, and workers with disabilities—as they advocate for themselves from the picket line to the polls.

In other words, our democracy needs work—more specifically, democracy needs workers. Investing in organized labor and supporting institutions like worker centers fundamentally improves democracy.

The erosion of democratic institutions and undermining of democratic norms has alarmed funders across philanthropy in the United States, who understand that this instability threatens our longstanding investments in issues from civil rights to environmental justice and beyond. Many have mobilized to shore up the cracks in our democratic foundation by supporting civic education, nonprofit news sources, and initiatives that increase voter access and electoral transparency.

These efforts are immensely worthy but incomplete without focusing on another cornerstone of American democracy: labor. By funding worker institutions that improve wages and working conditions, strengthening collective power, and expanding models of democratic engagement, philanthropy can strengthen our country from the ground up.

In a nation where rising inequality has fractured Americans into factions, raising the stakes of partisan battles, organized labor has the power to address some of our most pressing and polarizing problems. Worker institutions model the power of democracy at every level and act as a powerful vehicle for mass civic engagement.

As the director of the Ford Foundation’s Future of Work(ers) program, I have seen firsthand how our work to strengthen democratic values and reduce economic inequality is deeply inextricable and mutually reinforcing. And I have witnessed the outsized impact this connection has on marginalized workers—particularly low-income workers, workers of color, LGBTQ+ workers, and workers with disabilities—as they advocate for themselves from the picket line to the polls.

In other words, our democracy needs work—more specifically, democracy needs workers. Investing in organized labor and supporting institutions like worker centers fundamentally improves democracy.

Strong unions and other workers’ institutions serve as trusted vectors for information that impacts their members, underscoring the connections between labor and other related issues, from manufacturing and transportation policy to environmental justice.

Read the full article about democracy and the power of workers' rights by José García at Nonprofit Quarterly .